Friday, August 22, 2014

Popular but avoided: Customers rarely go into the department store – n-tv.de NEWS

The era of the department stores coming to an end? The problems at Karstadt to this conclusion. Many Germans are looking for, according to a survey rarely Department Stores on – but their relationship to Kaufhof and Co. seem contradictory .

Traditional department stores like Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof attract only a few citizens to regular visits. Only one in four were in a newly published survey, frequent purchasers in the most multi-storey retail shops. 64 percent said the survey by the polling company YouGov, however, they were rarely in department stores. Eleven percent said even that they never seek this type of business.

Nevertheless, over half of respondents (53 percent) believe that department stores “an important part of an attractive inner cities” are and should remain as received. For the possible closure of branches of the ailing department store chain Karstadt said 31 percent, this would be a pity. However, if the concept does not count, sites would have to be shut down

Few believe in the store’s end

Despite the apparent reluctance of German citizens against department stores, it is the second German department store. chain Galeria Kaufhof but still good – the turnover is recently risen slightly. In the most recent quarter in Germany as much as 2.6 percent. The subsidiary of Metro AG still poses from a nine-figure profit. Karstadt however, lies more firmly in deep red. Only for the financial year 2016/17, the company anticipates a return to profits.

More on the topic

This mixed picture may also be the reason why only a minority of 14 percent of the respondents by YouGov opinion is that time of the big department stores is definitely over. For the survey YouGov who interviewed a total of 1,023 participants.

Since the takeover of the Karstadt department stores by the Signa Holding the Austrian investor Rene Benko one week before speculating about possible branch closures. On Thursday, the Federal Cartel Office gave the change of ownership without restrictions and conditions freely.